Honda’s Awesome Electric Future

By Wes Siler, Hell for Leather
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Honda’s theme at this year’s biennial Tokyo Motor Show is, “What makes people feel good?” Well, now that you ask, an electric superbike styled like a 1970s-era grand prix racer would be a good start. Then you could offer 21st-century riff on the Motocompo? And maybe give us a wildly futuristic EV in which to carry it. That'd be awesome, thanks.

The show isn't until next month, so Honda is offering a sneak peek at the concepts with minimal info to entice people to check out the show. And entice they do.

Photo: Honda Motor Co.

Honda describes this toaster on wheels — an updating of a scooter it built in the early 1980s — as "a compact EV commuter which offers the casual and convenient mobility of a two-wheeler, but also strives to be useful even when it is not being ridden."

Of course it's got an iDevice-type display, and we love the minimalist vibe.

The Motor Compo reminds us of Wall-E.

The removable battery, presumably lithium-ion, is "designed to be used as a power source in everyday life."

Photos: Honda Motor Co.

The Motor Compo is designed to fit into this, the Honda Micro Commuter. Of course it's electric, and Honda says it "will become a highly accessible form of mobility for more people." Accessible? Hmmm...

Honda goes further, promising the Micro Commuter "will offer the joy of a new type of communications between people and mobility and an exterior that the owner can enjoy customizing more casually." We're not sure what that means, but the Micro Commuter certainly looks cooler than the electric pod cars General Motors rolled out last year.

The Micro Commuter is appropriately futuristic, with a heads-up display, room for three and joysticks instead of a steering wheel. We love the styling, but admit we'd rather see Honda build the retro-cool EV-N it showed off in Tokyo two years ago.

Photos: Honda Motor Co.

This is the Motocompo, just for reference. Back in 1981, Honda thought it would be cool to take the typical subcompact city car platform, but put a tall, van-style body on it so everyone would sit upright. Voilà, leg room.

There were two problems with the Honda City: Even a four-wheeler this small could still get stuck in traffic, and launching a big idea in a crowded market required some extra Je ne sais quois to really capture the Japanese market’s imagination and inspire buyers. The Honda Motocompo was the solution to both those problems.

Specifically engineered to fit in the trunk of the City, the Motocompo featured pegs, a seat and handlebars that tucked into the squared-off plastic body. This created a friendly lifestyle accessory and gave Honda a single package that wasn’t just unique, but the ultimate solution to city transportation. You can read more about it in a post Hell for Leather wrote in 2010.

Of course, the only reason we're telling you this is it provides an excuse to post these awesome ads featuring Madness.

Photo and video: Honda Motor Co.

Honda reprises the Gyro, but gives it an electric motor and a canopy. The company calls the E-Canopy, "a quiet and comfortable next-generation commuter" that also "can be utilized for business use such as a delivery service by adopting a rear trunk which can be built-in.”

Photo: Honda Motor Co.

This is the one we really want, and there's no reason it couldn't be built. Honda calls it "an EV version of a super sports bike that pursues the joy of riding. A powerful and smooth ride unique to an EV model is achieved with the 250cc-class compact body.”

We’d just like to add that this is possibly the hottest sportsbike design we’ve ever seen. We don’t care if it comes with an electric motor, a 600cc inline-four or a 1,200cc V4 — just give us a modern performance motorcycle that looks this timeless. Please.